Majjie's Blog

If you're looking for a wine cooler there are a few questions you need to ask yourself first.

1. How many bottles do I want to keep in my cooler

2. Do I want to keep red or white wine in the cooler, or both.

3. Is this for long term storage ... or am I going to drink it fairly soon

4. Do I want a free standing cooler or one built into the kitchen furniture.

A quick look at the web site of Trade Appliances shows that they are offering 89 wine coolers ... but these aren't all different models ... many are simply different colour options for the same model. Even so, the choice stretches from a little Baumatic cabinet holding 18 bottles and costing £105, to a tall Amana cooler with a solid steel door which holds a maximum of 208 bottles and costs £2,596.

The smaller cabinets are likely to have only one temperature setting. More sophisticated, or larger, coolers will have at least two separate temperature zones. Some of the large models have a gradient which is warmer at the top, for red wines, and coldest at the bottom.

Red wine is best kept at 13-18 degrees C; rose at around 12 degrees C; white wine at 7-8 degrees C and sparkling wine or champagne at 5 degrees C. Some wine coolers have a minimum temperature of around 7 or 8 degrees, so bear in mind that this may not be ideal for that champagne breakfast ... or indeed for keeping other drinks cool, like beer or fizzy drinks for the kids.

For long term storage all wines are kept at around 12 or 14 degrees C. Some coolers have a compartment at this temperature and then a further two - one to warm red wines slightly before serving and one to cool the whites.

If you're thinking about long term storage, it's worth looking for added features, which the better quality (and more expensive) coolers will have. Look for mechanisms for reducing shock and vibration, filters for reducing odours, solid doors or glass doors which prevent UV light from passing and also a way of maintaining the humidity in the interior.